Editor-in-Chief's Page

Editor-in-Chief's Page

Article excerpt

Energy independence and security are central stage again in the United States and globally. In this volume of the Energy Law Journal, we attempt to focus on certain critical issues underlying energy independence and security. In so doing, we are mindful of the following observation offered recently by acclaimed energy industry author and sage Daniel Yergin in the Wall Street Journal:

[I]f energy independence is presented as self-sufficiency, it will likely fall flat. . . . Today, quite simply, cutting ourselves off from global energy markets is not realistic. . . . But if the goal of energy independence is understood differently, to mean energy security-resilience, robustness, reduced vulnerability-then it is much more useful. This kind of definition . . . emphasizes the central goal of diversification-encouraging investment and higher levels of research and development in both alternative and conventional energy sources. It means a new push for energy conservation, higher energy efficiency, lower energy intensity ....

We first present two articles that separately address how additional U.S. natural gas and oil pipeline infrastructure can get built and the incentives for new investment in view of regulatory and other challenges. The next article addresses unique challenges from the environmental community arising from avian issues in connection with further development of an important source of alternative energy, wind power. …